New England defence defy NFL critics

There's a mantra that NFL players quickly come to learn when they play for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

It's placed in different spots in the locker room, it's on the walls around the team facility, and the coach himself repeats it often: "Do your job."

Perhaps no other unit for the Patriots has embodied Belichick's go-to phrase more than his defence this season.

And if New England hopes to capture their fifth Super Bowl, no other group will be relied on more as the Patriots face an Atlanta Falcons offence on February 5 that has scored 80 points through two playoff games.

Defensive back Duron Harmon, who had a huge touchdown-saving tackle in the second quarter of the Patriots' 36-17 AFC championship game win over Pittsburgh on Sunday, said that even in their tightknit world they couldn't help but notice the criticism that surrounded the defence earlier this season.

"Oh yeah, definitely. We try not to focus too much on the media, but we hear it, it's everywhere," Harmon said.

It was back in training camp that the Patriots first began to be dogged by questions about what their identity would be on defence following the trade of edge rusher Chandler Jones.

A slow start in struggling to create a pass rush without him during the first month of the regular season also did little to quiet critics.

That was followed by the surprise mid-season trade of linebacker Jamie Collins, and a three-week stretch in which the defence failed to force a single turnover.

That turned early compliments for new additions such as Chris Long and Eric Rowe into pressure on the shoulders of New England veteran linebacker Dont'a Hightower and a secondary led by Devin McCourty and Logan Ryan to increase their production.

They responded by having the stingiest scoring defence in the NFL over the final three weeks of the regular season, and entered the playoffs giving up a league-low 15.6 points per game.

They've maintained that status in the playoffs, allowing just 16.5 points per game.

Turnovers have also been up since that mid-season lull.

Including the two playoff games, the Patriots' defence has come up with 19 turnovers in the past eight games.

The defence has had multiple turnovers in seven of those games during that stretch.